Update (05/03): Mario has been found and is back home (see comments).

Mario is about 5 years old, 20 lbs, and totally black. He is often very jumpy and scared (even inside with folks he knows). He will hide.

Mario loves food, maybe too much. He will be very cautious with new environments even with food available.

Once comfortable Mario will cry your ear off. He loves to narrate his every move with a meow. He is very friendly.

If found please contact Nick Hunter at nickehunter@gmail.com or by phone at 804-519-5224.

If you are a noodle lover, this news should make you happy. Ramen Bar may be coming to the former Locust Moon Comics space at 40th and Locust Streets soon if their liquor license application gets approved. The building at 4040 Locust Street, owned by 4040 Locust Street Partners, L.P., formerly also hosted Strike Bowling Lounge, and the Redcap’s Corner gaming shop. Keswick Cycle opened at this location last year.

Foobooz reports that an ad looking for a head chef for a ramen restaurant close to the University of Pennsylvania was posted online back in January. The opening date listed in the ad was May 2012 and it looks like it could be for this restaurant. Judging by the boards covering the building, the opening may be later than May. We’ll let you know as soon as there is more information available.

SEPTA is planning a Trolley Route 34 Track Renewal Project in West Philadelphia this spring and summer, according to their Community Update distributed in the neighborhood. The project is scheduled between May 19 and September 1, 2012 and includes a pre-reconstruction and four reconstruction phases.

Pre-reconstruction is scheduled for May 19-June 15 and includes rail welding in advance of construction. Rails will be welded and stored along Baltimore Avenue at four locations – between 41st and 42nd streets, between 50th and 51st streets, between 54th and 55th streets, and between 58th and 59th streets. Trolley service will not be affected during this phase, but parking will not be permitted in the area where rails are stored, with a few exceptions.

Phase I will take place from June 17 through July 7 and will include the reconstruction of both tracks between 40th and 42nd streets, beginning at 40th and progressing westward through completion of 42nd Street. During this phase, the entire two-block area on Baltimore Avenue will be closed.

Phase II is scheduled from July 1 through August 4 and includes the reconstruction of both tracks between 49th and 52nd streets. Phase III is scheduled from July 29 through August 18 and includes the reconstruction of both tracks between 54th and 55th streets. Phase IV includes the reconstruction of both tracks through the intersection of 58th Street and is scheduled from August 11 through September 1.

Throughout all phases, buses will replace trolley service from the 40th Street portal to the end of the line at the 61st Street Loop. All traffic, including buses, will be detoured around the active construction sites. All side streets in the affected construction areas will be closed to through traffic.

Some of the existing tracks were installed as far back as the early 1980s. The street structure supporting the tracks has deteriorated due to water leaks, traffic and the overall age of the street surface, which requires increased maintenance, SEPTA said. During the reconstruction, SEPTA will excavate, renew and pave approximately 7,500 track feet in both directions.

If you have any questions about this project, please call SEPTA Community Relations office at 215-580-7013.
 

Neighbor Rachelle reports that she found a very friendly tabby cat on 46th Street:

“I found a cat stuck at the top of the apartment complex between Walnut and Chestnut on 46th street. I have attached a picture. She is currently around 46th and Spruce and has a white flea collar on. She is very friendly.”

If this is your cat, contact Rachelle at: brissonr@mounties.mansfield.edu
 

Reader Margie recently sent us the following information:

“[On Thursday] a cat escaped from a trap that hadn’t been properly latched. He had just come from the PAWS clinic for neutering, and I was putting him in my cellar for recovery when he escaped from the unlatched trap.

I last saw him [Thursday] evening near 46th Street (west side) between Hazel and Cedar. I have a trap set in a back yard there (with permission of the owner), but I don’t know if he is still around there. He is not from this area, so he is not attached to a location yet. However, I don’t think he got very far as he probably slept off his anesthesia last night.

He is a brown tabby with some white markings: only a little white on his face around his chin. He is an adolescent: small, sleek and thin (but not skinny). He is ear-tipped, and shaved in the region under his tail. His feeder/trapper tells me that he is very vocal; of course he might be quiet when you see him. He is feral and will not come to anyone.

If you think you’ve seen him, please let me know where and when. I suspect he is still close by.”

Margie’s contact information: margie@mpolitzer.com, 215-726-6636, 267-275-7010 (cell).

Neighborhood Bike Works’ Earn-a-Bike Education Cause has been selected as one of 100 finalists in the Cause an Effect program on Facebook and has a chance to win one of the $25,000 grants being awarded by State Farm through the program. From April 27 through May 17, any Facebook user can vote up to 10 times per day for Earn-a-Bike Education on the State Farm Facebook page.

The 40 Causes that receive the most votes will be announced on May 22, and a $25,000 grant will be awarded to the winners.

Neighborhood Bike Works has been headquartered in the basement of St. Mary’s Church on 40th and Locust for the past 13 years. The organization seeks to increase opportunities for urban youth in underserved neighborhoods in greater Philadelphia by offering educational, recreational, and career-building opportunities through bicycling. Neighborhood Bike Works also promotes cycling as a healthy, affordable, environment-friendly form of transportation.

If funded, “Earn-a-Bike Education” would allow Neighborhood Bike Works to offer five 8-week after-school Earn-a-Bike classes in the area, providing a total of 60 youth with free, enriching programming.